The Will to Change (after battle)

Whoever your poor master is...

... I can tell by the way their minions behave that they have no hope of ever taking that throne.

You'd be surprised by how much the lack of a just cause harms morale, fool!

You're the one to talk! What just cause do you have?

Just how high-and-mighty is your -

Oi, shut it and listen. At least...

... we actually want to change something about this place.

I'd say we've a more just cause than you bastards whose only thought upon hearing that awful bell is 'how can I expand my real estate this time?'

…….

Both of you always speak with such conviction, Outis, Heathcliff.

Hmph, gathering an army is the easy part.

A leader's true qualities are revealed only when the time comes to actually lead their men!

I see.

So it's your long experience with war that shaped your confidence, Outis.

…….

Because my life couldn't be any further from any battlefield of war.

Or maybe I was always surrounded by wars, both large and small, in the Backstreets... and I was just sheltered from them.

I've done nothing but watch from a distance, so I don't suppose I have any right to speak.

I wouldn't even know where I'd begin.

…….

This seemed like the perfect moment for Outis to brag about her experience, but she fell silent at that remark.

There ain't anything too complicated about it, mate. If it's shite, it's shite. Don't think twice about it.

Like the lad does.

... Like me?

For a while, Sinclair continued to ask Heathcliff if he really was talking about him.

I haven't ever walked down this hallway accompanied by so many other people...

I usually walked alone.

Why? Didn'tcha take your servants with you?

Sometimes, I did. Because I was scared to go there alone. But...

... I learned something as I grew older.

It's that my heart is most at ease when walking down this road alone.

<... Why?>

I imagined Hong Lu, slowly walking down this hallway alone with a dark expression.

... It wasn't a pleasant sight.

Tiekan Temple...

I was the only one who was allowed to freely enter and exit. The Family Hierarch can technically be let inside, but...

... even grandmother couldn't enter without their summon.

W-wait, Jia Qiu wasn't being metaphorical?

So... why are they called the Xianren...? Are they actually some supernaturally enlightened blokes or something?

Yes. They endured the time of suffering, opened their eyes to the secret to freedom from aging and death, and eventually attained Enlightenment, earning themselves the exalted title of 'the Xianren'.

But is that even... possible? What happened to them still searching for the answer to 'true immortality'?

…….

Mate, you're bottlin' up again, and that makes me nervous... What the hell're we walkin' into?

At least this place... feels much more tranquil than the world outside. It's quiet. And it smells nice, too.

I could almost forget that there's a war about to break out beyond the premises...

We're lucky.

Not many people know the actual path to reach Tiekan Temple.

But at least there's less chance of us running into any outside forces here.

... Can we not with the foreshadowing?